


Karaoke All Star

by Legato_Staccato



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: All Star, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Frozen references, Haruka Is Oblivious, Karaoke, Shintaro and Haruka Are Best Friends, Smash Mouth, Song references, Takane Has A Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-21 23:58:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15569211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legato_Staccato/pseuds/Legato_Staccato
Summary: “When Haruka first signed up for the late shift, he expected that the encounters he had would be few and bizarre.After all, who in their right mind came into a cheap, 24 hour karaoke place between 1:30 - 5:00 in the morning?They would either have to be drunk, depressed, or literally insane.But this girl didn’t seem to fit any of those categories.”Haruka, a poor college student with an even poorer sleep schedule meets a strange pigtailed girl who insists on singing karaoke at 3 in the morning all alone. Even stranger are her song choices. But one day, when she sings his favorite song, Haruka has no choice but to join in.





	Karaoke All Star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [winterhats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterhats/gifts).



> This one goes out to winterhats! 
> 
> Thanks for giving us our first comment and providing us with so much encouragement. 
> 
> It turned out a bit different than expected, but we hope you’ll enjoy it!
> 
> Harutaka for you, my friend.

When Haruka first signed up for the late shift, he expected that the encounters he had would be few and bizarre.

After all, who in their right mind came into a cheap, 24 hour karaoke place between 1:30 - 5:00 in the morning?

They would either have to be drunk, depressed, or literally insane.

But this girl didn’t seem to fit any of those categories.

“Room for one, please.” She was cute, from what he could see of her. Her hair was tied back in two thick pigtails that swung around her face. She looked like a marshmallow, all bundled up in her winter gear. Her voice, though muffled by a fluffy, blue scarf, echoed through the quiet building. Despite her many layers of clothing, Haruka was still able to see her breath in the chilly lobby. Curse cheap managers and their stubborness when it came to spending money on the electric bill.

“Um, sure, uh how long will that be… ma’am?” Haruka couldn’t really tell how old she was (he was guessing around his age) but “better safe than sorry” according to said manager.

“One hour.” Haruka grabbed the key for room one and placed it in her gloved hand.

“That’ll be $8.” The girl placed a ten dollar bill on the counter and Haruka expertly pulled two dollar bills out of the register. 

“First door on your left. Enjoy.” Haruka tried for a smile. The girl gave a small nod of thanks and walked away. 

Haruka sighed and leaned back in his chair. What a strange customer. Well, she herself wasn’t that strange; it was the fact that she wasn’t weird that was strange. If she was a college student like himself, as he had thought, he wondered why she would want to sing karaoke, all alone, this early in the morning. 

He shrugged it off, humming quietly to himself in the cold, quiet air. It didn’t concern him, despite his curiosity. 

The silence was broken suddenly by a loud, metallic noise. 

Haruka jumped up in his seat, startled, until he realized it was only the karaoke music. A heavy metal song blared from room one at what Haruka guessed was full volume. He could feel the ground vibrating. 

A voice rang out, as loud and harsh as the song itself. Haruka couldn’t tell if it was singing or screaming. He hadn’t known a human was capable of such noise and didn’t know whether to be in awe or terror. Maybe a bit of both. 

Haruka yawned. He was more tired than he had thought. He had taken the job knowing his weird sleep schedule, but that sleep schedule seemed to be pressing his head into the counter with an iron fist right now. 

Haruka fished through his bag looking for his earbuds. Not to listen to music of course— Haruka didn’t really like to listen to music as he fell asleep— but to block out the sounds of the loud girl singing death metal at three in the morning.

His hand stopped moving as dread overtook his body and he remembered the terrible fate that had fallen over his precious noise-cancelling machine. His earbuds were broken. They had been crushed to smithereens in the bus door that morning.

Great. Now what was he supposed to do?

The boy placed his head on the counter with a forlorn sigh. Looked like sleep would have to wait for an hour.

Haruka listened to heavy death metal music for the rest of his shift. 

…

Haruka had to admit, he was a surprised when the heavy metal girl returned the next day at the same time. He had figured it was a one night thing for her, screaming songs by herself at a most unreasonable hour. 

She wore the same blue scarf, the same multiple layers of clothing. 

“Room for one, please. An hour,” she said. 

Haruka grabbed the key. “That’ll be $8.” This was some serious deja vu. 

The girl gave him exactly eight dollars this time: a five and three ones. She strode over to the first room on the left and disappeared. 

Haruka braced himself for the large boom he was sure would come. 

But none did. 

His curiosity getting the better of him, Haruka stood and quietly strolled over to room one. 

Soft country music reached his strained ears with lyrics of broken hearts and cheated love. He heard the girl singing gently, the melancholy clear in her voice. 

Haruka almost fell over in the hall. The same girl who had been screaming her lungs out just yesterday was singing in the sweetest voice he had ever heard. 

 

…

 

“This is so weird.” Haruka’s best friend finished off his coke before trying to trick-shoot the can into the nearest garbage bin.

Shintaro Kisaragi missed.

“Pick this up!” Haruka scolded him, grabbing the empty can and shaking it in Shintaro’s face. “Littering is a crime.”

Shintaro scowled. “I was gonna pick it up!”

“Yeah, sure.”

“But seriously,” Shintaro continued. “This is the first time you’ve ever shown interest in a girl who isn’t your mom.”

“I’m not interested in her, just interested about her,” Haruka corrected his friend. 

Shintaro and Haruka had been friends for as long as they could remember. Before they were roommates they were childhood friends, and before they were childhood friends they had been neighbors. Shintaro wasn’t exactly the best roommate, seeing as he was very much unemployed, but Haruka would never abandon his friend like that. Besides, Shintaro made up for it in his own way by doing things like cleaning the house, trying to cook, not burning the place down and giving bad relationship advice.

Like he was now.

“I mean, I guess I would be interested about her too,” Shintaro shrugged. “Not many people like to sing karaoke alone, much less at 3 in the morning. But I say she’s just depressed or something. You said she was singing breakup songs? That’s probably it.”

“Yeah she was singing breakup songs.” Before Shintaro could say anything, Haruka went on. “She also sang the entire Frozen soundtrack, rap tracks, every Beatles album, 50 different anime openings and opera. Who sings opera at a karaoke bar? I didn’t even know we had opera!”

“Sounds like one weird girl.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Is she cute at least? I mean you’re interested in her, right?” 

Haruka rolled his eyes at Shintaro and threw his empty coffee cup at his best friend’s head.

 

…

The girl slid $8 over as Haruka handed her the key to room one. It was routine, now; she had come every day since that first time. They didn’t even have to exchange words anymore. 

Haruka wondered what the girl would sing this time. She had already done every musical genre he would’ve thought possible. He cocked his head, preparing for the latest song. His eyes widened when it began. 

It was All Star, by Smash Mouth. 

Haruka’s absolute favorite song. 

“Somebody once told me the world was gonna roll me…” the girl’s voice rang out, clear and passionate. 

Haruka found himself tapping his foot to the beat, humming along. Damn, he really wanted to sing. It was so catchy! His feet moved towards room one against his will. His arms strained to hold him down in his chair, but as the chorus came around again, he just couldn’t help it. This was his destiny, his ultimate jam. 

Haruka leapt out of his chair. 

He ran for the door of room one and slammed it open. 

“The ice we skate is getting pretty thin!  
The water's getting warm so you might as well swim!” he yelled. 

The girl stared at him for three whole seconds, and part of Haruka thought, “She’s even cuter up close,” while another part thought “crap, that was stupid”. But most of him thought “I WANNA SING ALL STAR”.

The words continued on the screen, the tune making Haruka itch to sing though he had probably just made the biggest mistake of his life. 

Then the girl threw him a mic. 

“HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL STAR! GET YOUR GAME ON! GET READY!” they screamed.

Haruka could’ve sworn he heard the sound system blow, but he hardly cared. all that mattered in that moment was All Star. 

 

…

 

A minute and some seconds later, Haruka found himself lying on the fake leather couch next to the singing girl. As both stopped to catch their breath, the girl handed him a water bottle. Haruka took it gratefully and gulped it down before handing it back. The pigtailed girl didn’t hesitate as she drained the rest of the bottle. 

Haruka couldn’t help blushing. That was basically an indirect kiss!

“What’s your name?” He blurted out. 

“Takane” she panted as she wiped her lips. “You’re a pretty good singer.”

“Oh!” Haruka couldn’t help blushing again. “Y-you’re amazing too. I’m Haruka.”

“Thanks.” Takane turned to face him. “I already knew your name. You have a name tag on after all.”

Haruka’s face turned red for the third time that night. Stupid managers and their stupid name tag policies that made him look stupid in front of a cute girl. 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Haruka began. “Why do come here?”

“To sing karaoke, why else?”

“I mean why here? Why now? All alone, at 3 in the morning?”

“Well, it helps me release my stress,” Takane admitted. “I have this sickness that prohibits me from moving around too much. It also messes up my sleep schedule so that I’m basically a vampire. There aren’t many places open at 3 in the morning, and I like singing. There are just so many songs out there. I wanna sing them all. I came here cause it was close by, but I liked it.”

“Wow…” Haruka looked at the girl in respect. “That’s a really cool dream, Takane! I’m glad you like the place too. Most people call us a cheap, crappy place. We have 1.4 stars on Yelp!”

“Well…” Takane blushed a furious shade of red. “I like the people here.”

“People? But I’m the only person here when you - ow!” 

Takane punched his arm. 

“What was that for?!”

“N-nothing!” She squealed. “Let’s just finish the soundtrack, ok?”

“So it’s Shrek night?” Haruka grabbed the microphone without looking away from the screen. “I should’ve joined you earlier. I’m amazing at ‘Let it Go.’”

“Yeah, I haven’t been wasting 8 bucks each night for you to take this long,” Takane muttered under her breath. 

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

 

…

 

“Phew!” Haruka collapsed onto the couch and dropped the mic onto the table. “I’m exhausted!”

“Same here!” Takane laughed and sat down next to him. “But I had a lot of fun. You should join me more often.”

“I will!” Haruka promised. “I had a lot of fun too. You’re a great karaoke partner.”

“Right back at you,” Takane responded, punching him again. 

He was going to get a bruise there. 

“Well, I better get going.” Takane began to shrug on her coat and scarf. “I have classes later this afternoon.”

“Oh, me too!” Haruka beamed. “I go to Tokyo University.”

“Me too,” Takane said. 

“And I never knew it!” Haruka gasped. “We should meet up sometime! What’s your major? I’m an art major, but I’ve been studying Japanese too. I have a class there this afternoon.”

“I know,” Takane may have blushed, but Haruka couldn’t tell under that blue scarf. “I’m in your Japanese class. I sit in the back. You’ve just never seen me.”

Haruka felt his jaw drop. 

“You’ll catch flies.” Takane closed his mouth back up. 

“B-but, y-you, when did-“

Takane shut him up by pressing her lips to his and pressing a paper into his palm. 

“J-just, call me ok?!” She practically screamed before running out the door and into the night. 

Haruka sat there, dumbfounded at the beautiful girl who had just kissed him. After a few minutes, he reached a trembling hand up to his lips. 

He couldn’t stop the goofy grin from spreading across his entire face.

**Author's Note:**

> *slams hands on table*
> 
> TAKANE THE TYPE TO BE TSUNDERE BUT THEN GET IMPATIENT AT THE END CAUSE HARUKAS SLOW LIKE THAT
> 
> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Please comment and kudos!


End file.
